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A guide to booking airline travel at the most inexpensive rates possible, making the most of every discount and booking secret available. Previous edition: c1999. Softcover.

Foreword

15

(2)

Rudy Maxa

Introduction

17

(8)

Ticketing Ploys

25

(40)

Book early

30

(1)

Buy in bulk

31

(2)

Time your travel well

33

(1)

Purchase a package

34

(2)

Split tickets

36

(1)

Find a fare, find a flight

37

(4)

Book international, fly domestic

41

(2)

Pick the right airport

43

(4)

Look for code-share bargains

47

(4)

Buy roundtrip, fly one way

51

(1)

Buy one ways, fly roundtrip

51

(1)

Open jaw tickets

52

(1)

Hidden cities

53

(3)

Back-to-back ticketing

56

(7)

Right cities, wrong dates

63

(2)

More Saving Ways

65

(22)

Track sales and fare wars

65

(1)

Use a rebating travel agency

66

(3)

Buy overseas

69

(1)

Grow old

70

(5)

Stay young

75

(2)

Fly space available

77

(2)

Get bumped

79

(2)

Complain with class

81

(1)

Join a travel club

82

(3)

Use dollars-off coupons

85

(2)

Frequent Flyer Miles

87

(22)

Picking a programs

89

(2)

Accumulating miles in the air

91

(2)

Accumulating miles on the ground

93

(7)

Accumulating miles in cyberspace

100

(3)

Minding your miles

103

(2)

Spending your miles

105

(2)

A final thought

107

(2)

Low-Fare Airlines

109

(20)

What's a low-fare airline?

110

(2)

Using low-fare airlines

112

(2)

Domestic low-fare airlines

114

(6)

Some low-fare wannabes

120

(2)

European low-fare airlines

122

(5)

South American low-fare airlines

127

(1)

Asia/Pacific low-fare airlines

127

(2)

Air Passes

129

(28)

Evaluating an Air Pass

130

(3)

About the listings

133

(1)

Europe

134

(8)

Latin America

142

(5)

Caribbean

147

(1)

Asia

148

(3)

Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific

151

(5)

Africa

156

(1)

Consolidators

157

(34)

What is a consolidator?

158

(3)

Why buy from consolidators?

161

(1)

Tradeoffs

162

(3)

Finding consolidators

165

(1)

Dealing with consolidators

166

(3)

Risks and remedies

169

(1)

Consolidator listings

170

(1)

Consolidators in the U.S.

171

(18)

Consolidators in Canada

189

(2)

Air Couriers

191

(22)

What is an air courier?

191

(1)

Some misconceptions about air courier travel

192

(1)

The peculiarities of air courier travel

193

(3)

The `typical' air courier trip

196

(4)

How good a deal is it?

200

(2)

Courier contacts

202

(11)

Using the Internet

213

(20)

Web specials

215

(1)

Priceline

216

(3)

Other web auctions

219

(1)

The Empire strikes back

220

(1)

Internet booking engines

220

(1)

Major online travel agencies

221

(5)

Other online travel agencies

226

(1)

The Empire strikes back, part II

227

(1)

Consolidator booking engines

227

(1)

Should I book on the Internet?

228

(1)

Keeping current

229

(4)

Becoming a Travel Agent

233

(10)

Referral travel agents

233

(6)

Becoming a referral agent

239

(1)

Home-based travel agents

240

(3)

Further Reading

243

(4)

Subject Index

247

One of the most pernicious myths in circulation today is that the best - perhaps the only - way to get the absolutely cheapest air fare is to go on the Internet. I'm not sure what makes this myth so tenacious. Maybe it's the airlines. They'd love nothing more than to tear customers away from travel agents and sit them down in front of computer screens where the airlines could control the information they receive. Maybe it's the press, which seems all aswoon with the romance of life on the Information Superhighway. But one thing I know for certain: It just ain't so.